11,837 Shares in Aramark $ARMK Purchased by Entropy Technologies LP

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP has invested approximately $409,000 in Aramark by acquiring 11,837 shares during the first quarter.
• Aramark recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.105 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.0%.
• Research firms have upgraded Aramark's stock ratings, with Robert W. Baird raising their target price from $43.00 to $47.00 and designating it as "outperform."

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 11,837 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $409,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 7.1% during the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 14,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 352.3% during the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 93,819 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,239,000 after acquiring an additional 73,075 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 1.2% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,768,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,050,000 after acquiring an additional 21,655 shares during the period. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Aramark during the first quarter valued at $411,000. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Aramark by 10.4% during the first quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,003,581 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,644,000 after acquiring an additional 94,659 shares during the period.

Aramark Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE ARMK traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $39.67. 494,196 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,029,284. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.40 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.01. Aramark has a twelve month low of $29.92 and a twelve month high of $44.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40. The company had revenue of $4.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.66 billion. Aramark had a return on equity of 15.67% and a net margin of 2.02%. Aramark's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aramark Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.105 per share. This represents a $0.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Aramark's payout ratio is presently 31.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aramark from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Robert W. Baird raised Aramark from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $43.00 to $47.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Baird R W raised Aramark from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Aramark from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.44.

Aramark Company Profile

Aramark provides food and facilities services to education, healthcare, business and industry, sports, leisure, and corrections clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Food and Support Services United States, and Food and Support Services International. The company offers food-related managed services, including dining, catering, food service management, and convenience-oriented retail services; non-clinical food and food-related support services, such as patient food and nutrition, retail food, environmental services, and procurement services; and plant operations and maintenance, custodial/housekeeping, energy management, grounds keeping, and capital project management services.